Very soon implants won't create a negative immune response anymore-this is the assurance of the researchers from Israel who created another breakthrough in science by developing a new way on how they can regenerate tissues and implant it without the body rejecting it.
The lead author of the study Professor Tal Dvir of Tel Aviv University's Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology and Sagol Center for Regenerative Biotechnology said, "We were able to create a personalized hydrogel from the materials of the biopsy, to differentiate fatty tissue cells into different cell types and to engineer cardiac, spinal cord, cortical and other tissue implants to treat different disease."
The study, which was conducted in Tel Aviv University, resulted to the invention of the very "first fully personalized tissue implant," extracted and engineered from the very materials and cells of the patient himself. This scientific discovery is expected to open the doors of much safer implant procedures in the coming years, as posted by the Good News Network.
As of the moment, when it comes to transplantation, tissues that are implanted are usually either synthetic or natural, often extracted from plants and animals. Since either of the two is still considered foreign in the body, the process of transplant tends to create a negative response that the body would try to reject it. Given this reason, people who underwent this process are given immune-suppressors, which put their lives in danger.
The researchers were able to unveil this discovery by extracting a small piece of tissue from patients through the process of biopsy. Once they already have the specimen, they will now separate the cellular and a-cellular materials of the cells, which they will use to develop stem cells and personalized hydrogel. From these stem cells and personalized hydrogel, personalized tissue will now be ready to be engineered to be used for implants.
As of now, experts are more focused on engineering cells in the spinal cord and the heart aiming to treat injuries in the spine and diseases of the heart. According to Israel 21, they are also digging deep into their studies by investigating a potential way to treat Parkinson's disease.
In the future, the researchers are aiming to use this study to regenerate not just the cells of the heart and spine but also other cells such as the intestines and the eyes. Dvir added that their group believes with their study, the future of engineering technology will be able to create "fully personalized tissue implants" from any organ of the body, which could pose a minimal risk once implanted in the body.
